SCHOLAR RESPONSES:

What leadership roles or volunteer experiences have been important to you during your time at Maryland?

While a student at Maryland I have continued my long-standing volunteer activity with the American Chestnut Foundation and its Maryland chapter. My studies have enabled me to contribute more productively to the chestnut restoration effort. In the fall of 2016, for example, I did a statistical analysis of our seed orchard design and found that it did not provide a high enough level of confidence of success for our breeding program. I learned that the design was inherited from another organization who had severe land constraints, and had to sacrifice statistical confidence of blight resistance in order to preserve genetic diversity in the breeding population. I made recommendations that would enable us to accomplish both objectives, either by planting more trees in our seed plots, or by pre-screening trees for resistance in a greenhouse before putting them in the field.

How will you make a positive difference in the world?

I believe that my children or grandchildren will see, in their lifetimes, healthy American chestnuts growing where they belong, in the canopy of the forests of the eastern United States. This will be do, at least in a small part to my efforts. I hope that in my future work, I will also have the opportunity to help solve problems of plant disease and secure food supplies for a growing population.

What is your major, minor, class and graduation year?

I am a Masters student completing my first year of graduate study. I expect to conclude my studies in 2018.

What is your Hometown?

Takoma Park, MD

University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA / Phone 301.405.0039
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